Commonplacing Health and the Body in Early Modern England

Commonplace books are palimpsest texts where the focus is not only on medicine and illness, but which allow 'glimpses' into a variety of experience. The ability to shape the project in these terms would be unique, anchored by the source material; in pursuing the lenses of time and memory, the outcome would be an innovative piece of work, with analysis of materiality and communication networks (oral, print, manuscript). It could contribute to our understandings of commonplace books in similar terms to recipe books (which have experienced something of a renaissance in recent years); be part of a burgeoning 'temporal' conversation in early modern European history; and allow a deeper understanding of the body as a gendered, racialised and classed 'interface' entrenched in its historical context. This would also have a positive impact on the Wellcome Collection's understandings of its holdings, and contribute to public engagement with this element of its collections.